Don't get MAD. (No, seriously. Don't.)

This week on Mom.me, I wrote about our little MAD magazine oops. (Oops!) 

Last Sunday, while Hal was picking up the week’s NYT and bagels, he plucked a little something for Archer as a surprise.

It was MAD magazine, Star Wars edition, and we all rejoiced when Hal knighted him with the issue, as if our childhoods were suddenly hand in hand. Even my dad scurried over to check out the issue.

“Oh, man. I LOVED MAD magazine when I was a kid,” he said.

“Me, too!!”

“Me too!”

“AND! It’s a Star Wars special!”

“Oh, man. I LOVE STAR WARS,” we all said in unison...

...Fast forward to thirty seconds later with Archer and my dad marveling over Spy vs Spy.

I snapped a photo of the moment, a grandson and his grandfather bonding over a timeless periodical. It was truly something.

“Is that the cutest?” I said to my mom.

“The cutest,” she answered back.

“So cute.”

“Cute.”

Of course, I hadn’t even thought to LOOK at the magazine. I mean, why on earth would I do that? Mad magazine was a silly magazine full of comics and lols… intended for kids?

At least that’s what it was like when I was a kid?

I think?

(Wasn’t it?)

I was actually talking to my Mom about this today when she emailed me the following....

"I loved MAD magazine and still remember my favorite take-off which was of the Flying Nun, a show with Sally Fields where she played a flying nun in Belgium called Sister Betrille. The name of the spoof was Sister Brazil, the Flying Nut, and still, to this day, it cracks me up... I think the main problem is that TV was clean in those days...there wasn't any cable TV, so the spoofs were a little edgy, but mostly clean. My parents even loved MAD Magazine!!!!!  Now....way different!!!..."

I always equated MAD to Beavis and Butthead which I was OBSESSED with as a tween. I mean, my first JOB was dressing up like Butthead with my BFF (Beavis) and waving to people on El Camino Real outside the "Halloween tent."

BUTTHEAD FOREVER!

Memories are a funny thing. We have different eyes at different ages. We judge from different comforts, relate based on experiences that have and haven’t happened yet. I’m sure I read and saw 7878798 things that I wouldn’t want my kids to read or see, and survived to… well… not remember any of it.

Same with my dad.

Same with my mom.

And Hal, who read MAD religiously at Archer’s age.

“We all did…”

MAD magazine, do you read it? Do your kids? Is my mom right? Is MAD's content THAT much more advanced because content EVERYWHERE is that much more advanced? I mean, my parents watched Cheers and Seinfeld when I was a kid whereas we watch Broad City (my favorite favorite) and Girls, you know? 

Very different material to work with, satire wise. Very not for kids. 

So what's up? Have the times changed or did we just... grow up? You can read the post in its entirety, here. 

Also, here is a photo of Fable reading (not MAD magazine) to our dog, Zadie, who occasionally dresses like a lady...

...Have a great weekend, everyone!

GGC